Most crustaceans are free-living aquatic animals, but some are terrestrial (e.g. woodlice, sandhoppers), some are parasitic (e.g. Rhizocephala, fish lice, tongue worms) and some are sessile (e.g. barnacles). The group has an extensive fossil record, reaching back to the Cambrian. More than 7.9 million tons of crustaceans per year are harvested by fishery or farming for human consumption, consisting mostly of shrimp and prawns. Krill and copepods are not as widely fished, but may be the animals with the greatest biomass on the planet, and form a vital part of the food chain. The scientific study of crustaceans is known as carcinology (alternatively, malacostracology, crustaceology or crustalogy), and a scientist who works in carcinology is a carcinologist.

The body of a crustacean is composed of segments, which are grouped into three regions: the cephalon or head, the pereon or thorax, and the pleon or abdomen. The head and thorax may be fused together to form a cephalothorax, which may be covered by a single large carapace. The crustacean body is protected by the hard exoskeleton, which must be moulted for the animal to grow. The shell around each somite can be divided into a dorsal tergum, ventral sternum and a lateral pleuron. Various parts of the exoskeleton may be fused together.

The name "crustacean" dates from the earliest works to describe the animals, including those of Pierre Belon and Guillaume Rondelet, but the name was not used by some later authors, including Carl Linnaeus, who included crustaceans among the "Aptera" in his Systema Naturae. The earliest nomenclatural valid work to use the name "Crustacea" was Morten Thrane Brünnich's Zoologiæ Fundamenta in 1772, although he also included chelicerates in the group.

The traditional classification of Crustacea based on morphology recognised four to six classes. Bowman and Abele (1982) recognised 652 extant families and 38 orders, organised into six classes: Branchiopoda, Remipedia, Cephalocarida, Maxillopoda, Ostracoda, and Malacostraca. Martin and Davis (2001) updated this classification, retaining the six classes but including 849 extant families in 42 orders. Despite outlining the evidence that Maxillopoda was non-monophyletic, they retained it as one of the six classes, although did suggest that Maxillipoda could be replaced by elevating its subclasses to classes. Since then phylogenetic studies have confirmed the polyphyly of Maxillopoda and the paraphyletic nature of Crustacea with respect to Hexapoda. Recent classifications recognise ten to twelve classes in Crustacea or Pancrustacea, with several former maxillopod subclasses now recognised as classes (e.g. Thecostraca, Tantulocarida, Mystacocarida, Copepoda, Branchiura and Pentastomida).

Many crustaceans are consumed by humans, and nearly 10,700,000 tons were harvested in 2007; the vast majority of this output is of decapod crustaceans: crabs, lobsters, shrimp, crayfish, langoustine and prawns. Over 60% by weight of all crustaceans caught for consumption are shrimp and prawns, and nearly 80% is produced in Asia, with China alone producing nearly half the world's total. Non-decapod crustaceans are not widely consumed, with only 118,000 tons of krill being caught, despite krill having one of the greatest biomasses on the planet. Krill are, however, a speciality in China and Japan and are used pickled in Korea. They are also consumed in Artic regions and are being introduced to new consumers as fusion recipes using frozen and tinned krill. Gooseneck barnacles (Pollicipes pollicipes) are a speciality of Spanish cuisine (recipes including krill and gooseneck barnacles can be found in the links below). The Pacific goose barnacle, Pollicipes elegans is also consumed, particularly in Alaska. The Japanese goose barnacle, Capitulum mitella is eaten in Japan. The Chilean giant barnacle or picoroco (Austromegabalanus psittacus) is routinely fished for food. Woodlice are sometimes consumed by foragers. Dried prawns (locally known as crawfish) are used as a flavouring and thickener in West African stews.

The alphabetical list of all the Crustacean-based recipes on this site follows, (limited to 100 recipes per page). There are 550 recipes in total:

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Le cassoulet de la mer à la bretonne (Breton seaside cassoulet)      Origin: France	Megrim Sole Olives with Squat Lobster Stuffing      Origin: Britain	Ojojo      Origin: Nigeria
Le Chao Men (New Caledonian Chaw Mein)      Origin: New Caledonia	Microwave Jambalaya (x)      Origin: Britain	Ouassous dans la nage (Ouassous in the swim)      Origin: Guadeloupe
Le Ndolé Camerounais (Cameroonian Ndolé)      Origin: Cameroon	Microwave Prawn Gumbo      Origin: Britain	Pâtissons Farcis (Stuffed Squash)      Origin: Mauritius
Lemon Chilli Chicken      Origin: Cocos Islands	Microwave Three Fish Soup      Origin: Britain	Pè Thee Thoke (String Bean Salad)      Origin: Myanmar
Lemongrass Curry      Origin: Cambodia	Mini Crab Cakes      Origin: Fusion	Pad Thai      Origin: Thailand
Lime-cured New Caledonian Blue Prawn Salad      Origin: New Caledonia	Miti Hue (Fermented Coconut Sauce)      Origin: Tahiti	Paella de Carne de Caza (Bushmeat Paella)      Origin: Equatorial Guinea
Lobster and Clotted Cream Tart      Origin: Britain	Monkfish Skewers with Coconut and Coriander      Origin: Britain	Paella Valencia      Origin: Spain
Lobster Croquets      Origin: British	Monlar Oo Chin Ye Hin (Myanmar Tangy Soup)      Origin: Myanmar	Palaver 'Sauce'      Origin: West Africa
Lobster Curry      Origin: Britain	Montserrat Jerk Prawns      Origin: Montserrat	Palm Butter Soup      Origin: Liberia
Lobster Sauce for Fish      Origin: Britain	Moqueca de Camarão (Prawn Stew)      Origin: Angola	Pan-fried Squat Lobsters      Origin: England
Locusta Elixa cum Cuminato (Boiled Lobster with Cumin Sauce)      Origin: Roman	Mozambique Prawns      Origin: Mozambique	Panang Curry Paste      Origin: Thailand
Locustam et Scillas (Lobsters and Prawns)      Origin: Roman	N'dolé (Bitterleaf Stew)      Origin: Cameroon	Partan Bree      Origin: Scotland
Locustas Assas sic Facies (Roast Lobster is Made Thus)      Origin: Roman	N'dolé avec Poulet (Chicken N'Dolé)      Origin: Cameroon	Pawpaw Stew      Origin: Ghana
Logosta Assada (Roasted Lobster)      Origin: Guinea-Bissau	Nam Prig Pow (Roasted Chilli Paste)      Origin: Thailand	Pazun Hin (Prawn Curry)      Origin: Myanmar
Lourenço Marques Prawns      Origin: South Africa	Nam Prig Pud (Fried Chill Paste)      Origin: Thailand	Pe Kyar Zan Thoke (Glass Noodle Salad)      Origin: Myanmar
Maelgi Rhost a Saws Bara Lawr (Roast Monkfish and Laverbread Sauce)      Origin: Welsh	Nasi Goreng Istimewa (Fried Rice Breakfast)      Origin: Indonesia	Peanut Soup      Origin: West Africa
Maffi Hakko Bangtura (Sweet Potato Leaf Sauce)      Origin: Guinea	Nasi Lemak      Origin: Malaysia	Penang Prawn Curry      Origin: Thailand
Malaysian Goat Rendang      Origin: Malaysia	Nasi Lemak      Origin: Cocos Islands	Pepes Ikan (Fish in Curry Sauce)      Origin: Indonesia
Malaysian Kapitan Chicken      Origin: Malaysia	Nasi Lemak      Origin: Singapore	Pepes Ikan (Fish in Curry Sauce)      Origin: East Timor
Malaysian Laksa      Origin: Malaysia	Nasi Lemak      Origin: Christmas Island	Percebes Tapas (Gooseneck Barnacles Tapas)      Origin: Spain
Malaysian Lamb Rendang      Origin: Malaysia	Ndolé à la Viande (Bitterleaf with Meat)      Origin: Cameroon	Peri Peri Kari Camarão (Fiery Prawn Curry)      Origin: Mozambique
Mallow Leaf Gumbo      Origin: Britain	Ndomba de Poisson (Fish Cooked in Banana Leaves)      Origin: Cameroon	Peri-peri Prawn Pasta      Origin: South Africa
Mandarin Prawns      Origin: Fusion	Nettle Greens and Peanut Stew      Origin: African Fusion	Pickled Crabapple      Origin: Britain
Mangalorean Prawn Sukka      Origin: India	Nigerian Fresh Fish Pepper Soup      Origin: Nigeria	Picoroco Tempura      Origin: Chile
Mangoé Rafalari (Spicy Mango Stew)      Origin: Guinea	Nigerian Guineafowl Pepper Soup      Origin: Nigeria	Plateau de Fruits de Mer (Seafood Platter)      Origin: France
Manhattan Seafood Stew      Origin: American	Nigerian Pancakes with Prawns      Origin: Nigeria	Port of Spain Crabs and Dumplings      Origin: Trinidad
Masak Lemak (Cabbage in Coconut Milk Gravy)      Origin: Malaysia	Nigerian Spiced Grasscutter Pepper Soup      Origin: Nigeria	Portuguese Percebes      Origin: Portugal
Massaman Curry Paste      Origin: Thailand	Njandu Curry (Kerala Crab Curry)      Origin: India	Poten Bwmpen (Marrow Pie)      Origin: Welsh
Matapa de Abóbora (Pumpkin Matapa)      Origin: Mozambique	Njanga Rice      Origin: Cameroon	Potted Morecambe Bay Shrimps      Origin: England
Matsavo (Pumpkin Leaf and Peanut Flour Stew)      Origin: Mozambique	Nyeleng (Beef and Peanut Gumbo)      Origin: Senegal	Potted Prawns      Origin: Britain
Mauritian Prawn Curry      Origin: Mauritius	Nyona Penang Assam Laska      Origin: Malaysia	Potted Prawns II      Origin: British
Mbanga Soup (Palm Nut Soup)      Origin: Cameroon	Nyonya Curry Paste      Origin: Singapore	Potted Squat Lobsters with Ginger and Basil      Origin: Britain
Mbolo      Origin: Equatorial Guinea	Ocopa de Camarones (Prawn Ocopa)      Origin: Peru
Mchuzi wa Kamba (Zanzibar Prawn Curry)      Origin: Tanzania	Ofada-Ugba Jollof (Fermented Jollof Rice)      Origin: Nigeria

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